154 Sheep Management, Breeds and Judging. 



to lie down and rest undisturbed until the next 

 meal time. This will give them plenty of time to 

 chew their cud and properly digest their meal. It 

 has been found at the Wisconsin Station that feed- 

 ing fattening lambs only twice a day is sufficient, 

 and is even more conducive to rapid growth than 

 feeding three times daily. As sheep are mostly 

 fattened in the winter time when the days are short 

 it is well to begin feeding about six o'clock A. M. 

 and again at four o'clock P. M., making it entirely 

 unnecessary to feed them at noon. 



4. Judgment. — The person who does the sheep 

 feeding should be one who likes sheep. There is 

 no sense whatever in trying to have a man feed 

 sheep who dislikes them or who possesses no judg- 

 ment. The feeder's ability and judgment are shown 

 in every case of success or failure. The careful 

 feeder watches all the members in the lot of sheep 

 closely, studies their appetites, and feeds them just 

 enough so as to prevent overfeeding at any one 

 meal. He begins lightly and gradually increases 

 their feed, for if they are overfed at one meal they 

 will often scour and may then lose as much in live 

 weight in three days as can be restored in the fol- 

 lowing two weeks. Scouring will also make the 

 wool filthy, thus greatly injuring the appearance 

 of the sheep and reducing the price of the wool. 



The same person should always do the feeding. 

 If by accident an unfamiliar person who is not ac- 



